essence festival. i have been here every year. it only gets better. the people here are inspired and inspiring. it's a party with a purpose. i'll see you back here tomorrow at a special time, 1:00 p.m. eastern. my colleague craig melvin picks up things now back in new york. >> good saturdays afternoon. i'm craig melvin, you are watching msnbc. here's what's happening now. developing news in egypt. a temporary prime minister is expected to be sworn in any moment. who is he and what will he mean for the deadly protests that continue there. we are live in moscow. bolivia joins venezuela saying they will take government leaker, edward snowden. what the united states is doing

now. >> some of you saw the soccer ball we were kicking around that generates electricity as it's kicked. i don't want to get too technical, but i thought it was pretty cool. >> it is. power play. the world east most popular sport is now bringing electricity to africa. meet the woman inventor behind the big idea. we'll get to those things in a mochlt. we start in egypt where there are new developments this afternoon. right now, thousands have gathered in cairo to rally behind the now former president, morsi, who has not been seen since tuesday. meanwhile, new reports. new reports an hour or so ago that opposition leader a nobel peace price winner will be named egypt's interim prime minister. we are watching it all from cairo. let's start with the reports of a new interim prime minister.

are they confirmed? where are they coming from? if they are true, what will it mean? >> the news broke an hour ago, first leaked by members of the opposition. they confirmed to nbc news he will be appointed as the interim prime minister. shortly after that, statements came out and the official state agency confirmed he will be appointed as the interim prime minister. he's scheduled to take the oath anytime now. maybe we will get the pictures of him taking the oath. he is the individual tasked with trying to restore law and order, forming an interim government and trying to get egypt's economy on track while trying to get the dremocracy that's stuttered back on path. he's got a lot of weight on his shoulder. as they announced him as the

interim prime minister, the muslim brotherhood said this amounts to a military coup and they reject participation in the interim government headed by him. >> what do we know about him in terms of his background? >> well, he's a very well respected man on the international stage in domestically in egypt. very well respected in those circles. more importantly, since he came to egypt, he has been leading the national opposition movement here. he is an individual that has some controversy because of political views. he was widely discredited and disrespected by islamists who saw his views as too secular for egypt. he's been criticized for not being charismatic and not going into the streets to fight the political street battles to raise him on the level of a national political figure. he is a man the secular youth

rally behind. he's considered the inspirational godfather, if you will, behind the movements. he is not necessarily affiliated with any of them. in recent months, he started his own political party called the constitutional party that's struggled to gain a lot of traction. he is an individual known to egyptians and for the most part is well respected for his international achievements and the fact he is a noble peace. >> let's talk about the scene behind you. at least 30 people died in protests yesterday into today. what's the scene like right now? >> reporter: the scene on cairo is calmer today. mourners on both sides, both those who supported morsi and those who oppose him buried their dead. many of them had funerals today and they were buried. today, the opposition now called

the opposition, the muslim brotherhood and their supporters are staging their sit in demanding former president morsi be reinstated. they will continue their sit in for as long as it takes. some of the marchers we saw after friday's prayers are what led to the clashes and fatalities. for the most part, there's not been the kind of confrontation or friction we saw in the streets like yesterday. it remains to be a tense situation. the supporters of the ousted president say they will continue to have marches and protests daily. it's an immediate challenge for the interim prime minister to restore law and order and security across the country. >> live in cairo, thank you. we'll check in with you throughout the afternoon. i want to bring in gail, deputy director of the women in foreign counsel. it's always good to see you. >> you, too. >> the white house, of course,

condemned the violence in egypt. senator john mccain take it a step further. take a listen. >> i believe we have to suspend aid to the egyptian military because the egyptian military is overturned the vote of the people of egypt. we cannot set a precedent. >> how likely is it that the united states cuts off egypt. >> i don't think it's likely. they don't want to support the overthrow of a government but it's never comfortable with the muslim brotherhood power. if you look at the statement earlier this week, it was basically carefully treaded line, did not call it a coup.

that would trigger all kinds of questions about whether that $1.5 billion in aid could go out the door. i do not think that you are going to see that. i think you will see a continued silent engagement of the military and of civil society as the united states tries to figure out exactly what levers it holds, which are not many. >> how would you characterize the response to the crisis there in egypt? >> it's been a muted response to the hitting of the reset button when it comes to the revolution in egypt. the united states has been incredibly quiet about, the united states did not see president obama from the podium talking about this. the statement was on paper. the state department has put the spokeswomen out. that's about it. i think the united states is trying to wait and see what this means. because right now, there are entirely many more questions than answers about what this means. there's no question that egypt

plays a pivotal role in stability. putting them together is where the united states figures out what it can do and should do. it's remaining largely quiet. >> one of the things that's been striking about the protests to me is the number of women you have seen in tahrir square. but the members of morsi's cabinet, there were only two women. when the general announced the new plan, only one of 14 who flanked him was a woman. there are awful stories we continue to hear about rapes at these protests. what is life like for women in egypt and what does the future look like for women in e jigypt? >> women have been almost invisible. they have spoken out about that, women activists, civil society leaders. they have been talking about this. they are not good for just going to the streets and overthrowing

governments, they want to be part of governing and leading. we will see whether this next round, you know, the third government is what we are on now. whether the fourth will include more women and whether women will have a seat at the table and a voice in their own governing structure. i think they are going to fight for it. the fact women risked their safety to go out to tahrir square and other places around egypt shows to you the stakes they see. this is also a revolution of young people. half of the country is under 25. it's a staggering number. it takes young people up to three years to find a job. you have generation frustration of which women are a central part saying no more. we'll see what it means for them when it comes to a board room and a governing room rather than the streets. >> always appreciate your insight. >> it's great to join you. >> let's turn to domestic politics and an issue in the

front. scott walker the latest republican govern toughening his states abortion law. this week, legislatures in texas and north carolina pushed through new legislation that could make it more difficult for women to get an abortion. among the restrictions, wisconsin requires women to undergo an ultrasound to find fetal age. doctors who perform abortions will have to have hospital privileges 30 miles within their clinic. it will require abortion facilities to be within 30 miles of a hospital. we are at the national journal. bill schneider. a number of states have adopted tougher restrictions on abortions. they include texas, north carolina, wisconsin, alabama, arkansas, kansas, north dakota as well. first of all, why are we seeing this new wave of restrictions this year in particular? >> well, what we see throughout

the united states, there are 23 states where republicans control both the governorship and the state legislatures. that's compared to 14 states where it's the case for democrats. republicans outweigh democrats in terms of who is controlling the state laws. a lot of advocates, pro-life advocates, rather than turning to federal laws, they are turning to the states to see where they can place restrictions on abortion. >> bill, how much of this is pure pandering and how much of this is actually driven by ideology? >> well, it's partly driven by anger. the republican and conservative base over the conviction of a doctor in philadelphia. he was convicted on three counts of murder for fetus'. a gruesome case. this looks like the last chance in those states. there's a midterm election. as she indicated, a number of

those states could see the power of republicans slip away. they want to show a pay off and rally the religious right base. >> a number of the measures could be overturned in court. >> yes, the courts have begun to take these cases. they are being sued. it could activate the other side. when pro-choice voters feel threatened as they will in most of these states, they will become energized and activated and could come to the polls. >> senator marco rubio is considering sponsoring legislation to ban abortions 20 weeks after conception. federal legislation, he lost support of conservatives when he backed the immigration proposal. is this purely a move on senator rubio's part to regain some of that support? >> i can't speak to his personal motivations if he supports such a piece of legislation.

his personal beliefs aside, it could benefit him. as you mentioned, he lost support among conservatives or faced a lot of criticism for his support of immigration reform. him backing a piece of legislation could definitely shore up his support and enthusiasm among conservatives even if the legislation were never to reach the senate floor, which it probably won't. >> that's what always gets me. you know these politicians know that a lot of these measures are politically never going to happen. they know it's not going happen. why go through the steps. why make these motions? >> i mean, on the one hand, it puts the issue in light. he can attach his name to it because of the star power. it raises the issue in national conversation, even if it never reaches the vote and gets to the senate floor. it generates enthusiasm.

someone can go on the record and talk about how they feel about the issue. it generates enthusiasm. >> bill, how are women likely to react when a sponsor comes up for re-election or election for that matter? >> well, women are actually as divided over the abortion issue as men are. the country is divided over abortion. the antiabortion forces are much more likely to vote the issue come election time. the pro-choice forces have to feel threatened. it's what's happening. we saw it happen in 1989, actually, when the webster decision was handed down by the supreme court that invited states to pass abortion restrictions. suddenly, the pro-choice felt threatened and marched to the polls. there's a victory for supporters that year. a lot of women and abortion rights supporters felt

threatened. that could happen again. >> a big thanks to both of you. >> thank you. moms on the witness stand. trayvon martin's mother and george zimmerman's mother both testify friday. what their testimony could mean. plus, nelson mandela entering his fifth week in the hospital. we'll go live to south africa for the latest on his health. the latest drama for paula deen. the 250,000 dloors deal coming up on msnbc. lots of options, huh? i can help you narrow it down. ok thanks. this one's smudge free. smudge-free. really? and this one beeps when you leave the door open. get those brand name bells and whistles, even on a budget, with red white and blue savings. thank you! more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. buy now and save $300 on this stainless steel samsung refrigerator.

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we have some developing news now. more than 1,000 people have been evacuateed from a small quebec town. check out these pictures. a train carrying petroleum

derailed, exploded and sparked a massive fire. it went up in flames near the u.s. border. it continues to blaze right now. several businesses in the town center have been destroyed we are told. it's not clear whether anyone has been hurt. local police say a number of people have been reported missing in the town. investigators are heading to the scene. they have to wait until the area is secure before they can look into what caused the accident. again, this developing news that we continue to keep our eye on near the american border. after ten days, 38 witnesses, the prosecution in the trial of george zimmerman has rested. now, it's time for george zimmerman's lawyers to tell their side of the story. friday, defense called their first two witnesses. the jury heard from two mothers, one trayvon martin's, the other george zimmerman's each testifying it was her son screaming for help on a 911

tape. ron mott is in florida. good saturday to you, sir. >> reporter: good saturday to you as well. it was a riveting day of testimony. the two mothers testified not for long, but the testimony should stick with the jury. it's an all woman jury. what the two mothers basically said is this, i know my son's voice when i hear it. two mothers, two opinions about whether trayvon martin or george zimmerman is heard screaming on a 911 call. >> my youngest is trayvon benjamin martin, he's in heaven. >> reporter: she wrote, i pray god gives me the strength to represent my angel trayvon. with george zimmerman, the man who killed him looking on. they played the call that

captured the shooting. >> are they yelling help? >> yes. >> reporter: then considered a question essential to the case, who is screaming for help? >> do you recognize that screaming? >> yes. >> who do you recognize that to be, ma'am? >> trayvon benjamin martin. >> reporter: zimmerman's mom heard something different. >> do you know whose voice was screaming in the background? >> yes. >> whose was that? >> my son, george. >> firstly, to apologize for your loss. >> improper. not a question. >> i'm sorry. >> trying several times, unsuccessfully to get her to consider the possibility zimmerman was the person screaming. >> if you were to listen to that tape and not hear your son's voice, that would mean it would have been george zimmerman's

voice, correct? >> had i not heard my son screaming, is that what you are asking me? >> yes, ma'am. >> i heard my son screaming. >> zimmerman pleaded guilty to second degree murder. >> i heard him yell, not like that, but yes. >> the state rested their case. the older brother. >> i believe trayvon martin was alive for one to ten minutes after he was shot. >> reporter: concluded martin was not killed instantly. >> he can still feel pain? >> yes. >> reporter: defense challenged him to revise it one to three minutes. as is custom, they made motion for acquittal. the judge quickly denied. the floor is the defenses. i spoke with mark o'mara and asked how long they plan ongoing. he said three to four days.

>> who else do we expect to hear from from the defense next week? >> he wouldn't tip his hand with that. i think you may see some of the witnesses the prosecution called recalled back to testify, again. maybe rachel jeantel, the so-called star witness. she's subject to be recalled. the state called 38 witnesses. mark o'mara would not give indication of how many he will call. he's going to put on a vigorous defense for george zimmerman. >> big thanks to you, sir. an update on the disappearance of madeline mccann. she is the 3-year-old british girl who disappeared in may, 2007. you remember, she went missing while on vacation with her family in portugal. now, six years later, they have new evidence, right now, they are investigating 38 people of interest and they say they

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going on right now at your local walmart. the latest on edward snowden. venezuela is offering asylum to the nsa leaker. in response, the united states has filed an extradition request. bolivia and nicaragua may offer asylum if circumstances allow. we'll have much more from moscow in the next hour. meanwhile, ex-russian spy tweeted a marriage proposal to snowden. it could smooth a path for him in russia where he is believed to be hiding. great way to get into the political playground. ted nugent. is he thinking of running for president? the gun toting rock 'n' roller saying hi, i'm ted nugent.

i have nine children from seven women and i'm running for president. is he really running, you ask? well he says, quote, yeah, i'm thinking about it. can you guess what supreme court justice lifts weights? if you said 80-year-old tough as nails ruth bader ginsburg, you would be right. she is in excellent health and routinely hits the gym. she vows to resist pressure to retire as supreme court justice. not surprising considering she survived cancer not once, but twice. finally, would you want your kids to grow up and work in politics? if you answered no, you have lots of company. according to a gallup poll, americans said they would not like to see their child go into politics by a margin of 2-1. the results the same whether it's asked about a son or a daughter.

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well, a party with a purpose is happening right now in new orleans. it is the place to be. the annual essence festival is in its 19th year. it's a celebration of african-american culture and music. it features artists and community leaders talking about personal finance, politics and crime. this year, msnbc is an official broadcast sponsor of the festival. mara drew the short draw, she is in the big easy for us. good to see ya. you look so happy and refreshed. >> reporter: it's hard to imagine why i would be happy, fourth of july, fish. it was a tough assignment. it's a party with a purpose. they are calling it the essence festival to reflect the

diversity of events. they have empowerment experience. panels, important things in the community, gun violence, health, jobs. i'm doing a panel on moderating it. it happens within a day. at night, you have your party. performances from a number of artists from scott and maxwell who we saw last night. new edition is on tonight. miss beyonce knowles is performing the last night. she's headlining the whole thing. yesterday, brandy performed. we caught up with her today. she told us about what essence means to her. >> love, unity, inspiration, core, strength, all of it. to be a part -- that's what i represent. that's why i do what i do. that's why i do music. to be a part of the theme is huge. it's huge for me. it's huge for what i represent. >> reporter: for the first time ever, msnbc is the broadcast

partner of this event. we are broadcasting a lot of shows from here. we are at the blueberry pie. they are giving away blueberry pie. i got a little of that. a good time to be had. there are a lot of serious things going on, too. >> reverend al hasn't eaten blueberry pie for years. that's on his old food list. thank you so much. >> reporter: you, too, craig, thanks. let's look at the top stories making news. 48. 48. that's the number of people that have been shot in chicago, this holiday weekend, so far. seven people dead. at least 41 have been hurt in the city's most recent rash of shootings. among the injured, two little boys. just 5 and 7 years old. they were with their families at city parks when they were shot. they are in the hospital. both are in critical condition. right now, a wildfire on

nevada's mount charleston burns for a sixth straight day. it's destroyed 9,000 acres and forced people to evacuate their homes. a new development in the paula deen saga. a new york man is in custody for trying to extort $250,000 from the celebrity cook. he threatened to reveal what he called, quote, damming statements from the food network star. he was demanding money from deen in exchange to keep quiet. the deadline for congress to fix the student loan crisis came and went. that means interest rates on subsidized stafford loaned doubles from 3.4% to 6.8%. the rates could stay doubled unless congress pulls a hail mary and fast. joining me to talk about it, becky, who covered the topic

extensively for the chronical of higher education and an 18-year-old who wrote a book called "one size does not fit all." a student's assessment of school. he's decided to postpone going to college because it's so expensive. first of all, let me ask, how did you decide to pass on college and what did your parents say about that? >> so, i really decided to pass on college for a little while for a number of reasons. one was the high cost of tuition. another reason was i felt self-directing my learning through books, traveling and projects would be more meaningful and worthwhile and cheaper in the long run than going to college. >> we are going to talk about that more in a second. becky, senators worked through last week to try to make a deal. they failed to do so by the july 1st deadline. nevertheless, many say they are hopeful an agreement will be reached shortly after the break and can apply retroactively.

what is the likelihood of that happening? >> that's a good question, craig. it's unclear. the education department indicated the administration is working with congress in hopes that if there is some agreement to change the interest rate, it would be retroactive. it's unclear if it will happen this year or not. >> house republicans used their weekly address to make a point that they did try to come up with a solution and they were not met on the other side of the aisle. this is republican congressman lynn jenkins. listen. i want to talk to both of you about it on the other side. >> today the essentials of the american dream are at risk. last week, i spoke with hundreds of college students concerned they won't have the same opportunities their parents had. they find it hard to see beyond paying off their education, stretching to a grant and finding a job in this tough economy. >> do you agree? >> i think that right now, the

american dream is in peril. the access for poor, low income students is in jeopardy. student loan debt, 60% of loan debts affect poor families. people with incomes less than $8,500 net worth. it's going to damage millenials. they are postponing buying a house and a car. the big problem is that debt is the worst thing that a young person can be straddled with. it limits your options. it forces you to do things you have no interest in. >> from a broader macro economics standpoint, it's less disposable income folks have to buy cars and homes and things of that nature. becky, june 28th, you tweeted

something we found interesting. no one wants to pay more in interest. in the scheme of affordability issues, this is not the biggy. >> yeah, i think that's true. it's scary to hear rates are doubling. it sounds like a big deal. if you do the math, for the typical student borrower with stafford loans, it results in a monthly payment of an extra $25 a month. like i said, i don't think anyone is excited to pay an extra $25 a month. there are many bigger concerns with college affordability than what's going on with the interest rate on one part of one kind of student loans. >> what are the concerns? what are they? >> i think there's a bigger issue of college is very expensive. family incomes have been flat at best. college tuition keeps going up. state support of colleges, which is very important has gone down. the federal government provides

financial aid but more and more of it is in the form of loans. i think the interest rate question is a very small issue in the scheme of some of these bigger concerns. >> you cover this for the chronicle. what do we know about the drivers of college costs? >> it's a really complicated question. people tell you different things. for public colleges where most students go, a big issue that states have not been putting as much money toward college. they have so many budget priorities and college is not the highest priority on the list. states have to balance their budgets. they have been taking some of that support away. colleges have to pay for faculty salary and their benefits and a lot of their costs are very personnel costs, which are hard to contain. some colleges argue that some of the amenities they offer are things students expect. it's not just climbing walls and

fancy dorms, but students require academic help, they need counseling services. they have health and mental health issues. families and students expect them to support them in those ways. >> becky and 18-year-old author, thanks to both of you. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you. time to flash back. queen elizabeth traveled to new york city three years ago today and addressed the united nations. during that trip, she made another meaningful stop. nbcs "nightly news" had the report. >> the first stop was here at the united nations where secretary general noted the british monarch has went from the fetals to beckham. the queen shared the knowledge gained to a standing room only crowd in the general assembly crowd. >> it is perhaps always been the case that the waging of peace is

the hardest form of leadership of all. >> reporter: it wasn't the queen's first visit there. she gave her first speech at the young age of 31 in 1957. during her return trip in 1976, she was given a tour of the river, the twin towers in the background. today, she visited the sight where the towers fell and placed a wreath on ground zero. the tide's coming in! this is my favorite one. it's upside down. oh, sorry. (woman vo) it takes him places he's always wanted to go. that's why we bought a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

>> we played with this for a few hours. now you have a half hour worth of -- >> no, 30 minutes of play, several hours of light. >> or you can plug in and charge your cell phone. pretty greacht. we are going to start getting these. it's fantastic. >> that was jessica matthews,

co-inventor of the socet. she corrected the president on how much energy it kreits. it's a soccer ball lighting up communities. here to explain her big idea, jessica matthews, co-ceo of unchartered play. in the simplest of terms, how does this work and how is it lighting up communities, especially in underdeveloped countries? >> sure. it's a simple technology. if you imagine a windmill shrunk down and put into the ball, that's how it works. as it has ball moves, it creates motion with the mechanism rolling in the ball. once you are done playing with the ball you can just open up,

plug a light in and you are good to go. >> what's the formula? how many hours generates how many -- >> for a basic l.e.d. lamp, you play 30 minutes and get over three hours of light. >> why a soccer ball instead of a basketball? >> for soccer it made sense immediately because it's the number one sport around the world. when thinking ability communities and the love for this game, it's something they love to do, no matter what they have or what's going on, it brings joy to people around the world. it ends up being a great connector and a great way to show people that energy and energy access is a global issue. it matters to everyone and everyone can hopefully, actually enjoy getting. >> did you play soccer growing up? >> no. but i'm nigerian. what that means is that my brother played, my father played, my cousin's play.

i played basketball. that's coming, as is the jump rope, skateboard. >> that's what's next? >> all play. >> what sort of effect is this having in places like africa? >> it gives people who rarely experience the win/win, the opportunity for a win/win. they get to do something they do regardless and we amplify that experience and behavior by giving them something that actually generates power. >> how much does this cost? >> right now, we currently just had corporate sponsors distributing them. they will pay different amounts depending on whether they want exclusivity. we want to get it down to what someone might pay in the developing world, 1/5 of the cost of oil. the idea is to get them to a cost they can afford and bring production to the areas to get jobs while they are getting the

power they need. >> minus the correcting the president, how cool was the experience in africa last week? >> it was amazing. we weren't expecting him to touch the ball, then he picked it up, bounced it on his head, dribbled it, kicked it around with the tanzania president. we couldn't believe what he was doing. he's a better soccer player than i was expecting. >> it's a cool concept. you alluded to what is next. basketball, jumping ropes. is that what's next? >> the next one is going to be the jump rope. we were working with an organization and they are on busy beach where the poorest people live next to the richest people. we went there with the jump rope. the girls not comfortable playing soccer, they were jump roping like crazy. it might generate more than the

soccer ball. especially the way they jump rope. >> co-ceo of unchartered play. did i get it right? >> just ceo. >> no co-ceo. >> just the ceo. >> i got

. what it means to serve.

in south africa, there are more calls today for nelson mandela's family to end the feud that is unfolding as the former president and leader spends his 29th day in the hospital. court documents which were part of the squabbles of where to bury three of his dead children suggest that the 94-year-old could be on life support. ron allen is in south africa

this morning. what is the latest on his condition? what do we know? >> reporter: we know the government insists he's in critical, but stable condition. it's been that way for the better part of two weeks. there's not a lot of detail. that's created a huge void with a lot of speculation and rumor. we know he was brought here because of a respiratory infection. he's having recuring problems with his lungs. he's on a ventilator helping his breathe, but we don't know if it's the only thing helping him breathe. he is comfortable, not in a lot of pain and he is quote, fine. you were referring to a report suggesting he's in a permanent vegetative state. they have pushed back hard saying it is not true. during the time we have been here, any indication, any suggestion that nelson mandela's condition is in some way able to

be determined by the family has been rebuked by them. they say, again, his wife, he is fine. critical, but stable. beyond that, we don't know, craig. i dare say, if this were happening in the united states, we would have heard briefings from his doctors and more discussion, press conferences with the family, perhaps. there would have been experts on tv speculating what could be going on with a 94, soon-to-be 95-year-old man. that doesn't happen here. it's a dignified situation. they are trying to keep it that way despite the obvious, obvious concern around the world to know about his condition. >> nbcs ron allen in south africa. a big thanks. coming up, new developments in egypt. new leaders and protests as the nation appoint as temporary leader. we are live in cairo. meanwhile, back here at home,

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summer's best event from cadillac. let summer try and pass you by. lease this all-new cadillac ats for around $299 per month or purchase for 0% apr for 60 months. come in now for the best offers of the model year. goods saturdays afternoon, i'm craig melvin. you are watching msnbc. here's what's happening right now. egypt's new leader, the country -- swearing in a temporary prime minister in a few moments. when that happens, we will go live to cairo as protests continue. also ahead -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> plus, snowden's next stop. three countries in latin america offer refuge for him.

we are live with the latest efforts to stop snowden. and the george zimmerman trial. we will talk about the likelihood of zimmerman taking the stand. we'll get to all those things in a few moments. let's turn to the political headlines. president obama focused this morning's weekly address on the patriotism of our founding fathers. >> they fought a revolution. if you would have bet on their side to win. for the first of many times to come, america proved the doubters wrong. now, 237 years later, the united states, this improbable nation is the greatest in the world. june's jobs numbers are out. the unemployment rate stuck at 7.6%, 200,000 jobs were added. they released a statement saying it's not good enough. quote, america must do better.

that means president obama must get his priorities in order. republican senator john mccain had harsh words for those in egypt who have now overthrown their democratically elected president, mohamed morsi. >> we cannot repeat the same mistakes we have in history by supporting the removal of freely elected governments. so, i believe that the aid has to be suspended. >> there are new developments in egypt now. opposition leader, mohamed elbaradei has been sworn in. we are live in cairo. first of all, what is the latest on when elbaradei might be sworn in? >> we are expecting it to happen any minute now.

reports from outside the presidential palace said he's arrived there and he is meeting with the interim president, mansour. we are hoping to see the oath of office taken in front of the interim president, perhaps other members of the interim cabinet he would try to form or prepared to swear in. that remains to be seen whether it's this evening or tomorrow. >> i want to go back to what senator mccain said. how concerned is the egyptian military about a possible loss of u.s. aid? >> reporter: well, certainly, if you ask, there's been anecdotal evidence they were not taking into consideration the u.s. response or international response to what it deemed as it has intervention to oust the former president, mohamed morsi. from a training point of view,

from a supply point of view, they are very much dependent on the united states. it's a close working relationship. they need the united states for mobility and stability. they rely on the united states for training and as i mentioned, aid. there's no doubt the egyptian military takes into consideration very heavily the channels they have with the united states military. that will probably play down the road, if indeed the united states congress decides to cut off that aid. >> how long do you think the military is going to allow these morsi demonstrations to continue? >> reporter: well, right now, they are going to allow them to continue as long as they remain peaceful. they will protect all sides in this political struggle, if you will. they have no sides to take and no bone to pick with the protesters. they have drawn red lines for

any demonstrator. not to damage public or government property. that's the line they have drown. the supporters of the ousted president have abided by that. their peaceful sit in continues for a third straight day. no confrontations unless they decide to march. the confrontations have been between opponents and supporters. the criticism is to not do more to prevent them from clashing with one another more so than the military directly. >> live for us in cairo as we wait for mohamed elbaradei. if it happens within the next hour, we will bring those images. a big thanks to you. let's take a step back and look at the dramatic changes that swept through egypt. we wanted to show this time line. amid the growing arab spring

protest, they break out in tahrir square demanding hosni mubarak to step down. he ended his 30-year reign. the military takes control of egypt. elections start. they take until february. the muslim brotherhood and another group win a clear majority there. in june, muslim brotherhood leader, morsi, wins the presidency. five months later, morsi decreased. his decisions are not subject to judicial review. last sunday, millions started to demand morsi step down by wednesday, just three days ago. morsi is out. the military is, once again, in charge. i want to bring in christopher dickey. he's the editor of the "daily beast." let's start with elbaradei's appointment here.

does it add credibility? >> well, i think it's going to be tough for elbaradei to serve in the way people hope he's going to serve, which is to bring the muslim brotherhood back into the game. right now, the people in the brotherhood are saying they would rather die than seymour si out as president. elbaradei spent the last year or so making himself public enemy one of the brotherhood, leading the opposition to the brotherhood. it's going to be a tough row for him to hoe. >> you write about parallels happening in egypt and now july 4th, independence day. you white wheat the masses want is all men are created equal, they are endowed by their creator and as the american declaration of independence

claimed, without equivocation. the just powers with the consent of the govern. they have drawn their consent. what is it going to take to create a government the people can stand behind? >> well, i think it's going to take smart politics and peace and stability, the likes the country hasn't had for awhile. i hope that the people of egypt are going to see their dreams realized in the near future. if you ask me to bet what's going to happen, i think the muslim brotherhood is going to make it impossible for the new government to govern. if that happens, there's going to be a great likelihood the army will really clamp down and impose marshall law. then we enter a situation where mccain's objections, those kind of issues will become much, much worse and we'll see a general deterioration in egypt. i hope it's not true.

what we saw when we saw 17 million people on the streets of egypt was a people who want to live by the kinds of principles in the american declaration of independence. the consent of the government with life, liberty for the people of the country. >> chris thanks to you. we have breaking news we need to report on right now. a 777, a boeing 777 has crashed in san francisco. it's crashed at the san francisco international airport. it crashed while landing we are told. it's operated by airlines. a boeing 777 has crashed. it was coming from seoul, south korea, we are told. it landed on runway 28 in san francisco international airport. apparently crashed sometime after touching down. again, injuries at this point, unknown. we are just getting word here a few moments ago.

again, a boeing 777 operated by asiana airlines crashed while entering san francisco airport. apparently crashed after touching down there. we are working to gather more information. as we learn more, we will pass it along to you. edward snowden believed to be holed up in the moscow airport, a legal no man's land. the options of where to head may be growing. venezuela and bolivia are offering asylum to him. nicaragua will, if circumstances allow. jim maceda joins us with more on that. is there any reaction from snowden or anyone helping him with the new possibilities of asylum in latin america? >> hi there, craig. twitter is full of unbridled relief and pride of what he

called a chavez vista taking the lead. this is possibly a fake account. who would expect anything less from snowden. no, no official or verifiable reaction. experts in criminal profiling say that after being holed up now and isolated for some two weeks in a heavily guarded room in a moscow airport hotel, snowden was probably feeling like his reality was about to crash down on him. stateless, powerless, feeling not like the hero he expected to become. going from no options to three options, even if they are venezuela, nicaragua and bolivia must have brought a sigh of relief to the fugitive and no doubt, an equal sigh of frustration from the obama administration. >> lodgistically here, say

nicaragua decides to offer him asylum, how is he going to get there? >> reporter: good question. not just nicaragua, let's take venezuela. what he needs to do next is get a valid travel document from the government to fly on. his u.s. passport was canceled. in terms of venezuela, they seem to be the real deal in terms of the trifecta here. president nicholas said today he was granting humanitarian asylum to snowden. that might come with a humanitarian refugee pass, in which case he could probably fly out of moscow on one of the daily flights to havana. at some point, russia needs to get involved. they need to decide if they are going to help snowden get that

document or not. nothing is certain. back to you. >> jim maceda, thanks to you. again, we want to update you on the breaking news we told you about. this is from the faa, a boeing 777 has crash landed at san francisco international airport. the plane was coming in from seoul, south korea. at this point, we do not know how many people were on board. we also do not know, in addition to that, how many people are on board. we don't know if there are injuries to report. it landed on runway 28 at sfo international. it apparently crashed sometime shortly after touching down. again, that boeing 777, operated by asiana airlines crashed landing at san francisco international airport. there's black smoke, we are told, that is being seen in pictures. we have, of course, are efforting a live picture and video from the scene.

right now, all we can tell you is that it landed on runway 28 in san francisco international airport. there are emergency crews on the scene as well, we are told. in addition to the emergency crews on the scene, black smoke there. the aircraft over san francisco, other aircraft, other aircraft flying into san francisco right now, we are told that aircraft is in a holding pattern. we are told that those plains are not being allowed to land. no planes are allowed to take off right now at san francisco international. again, that boeing went down a short time ago. again, sometime after touching down. we are working to gather more information here. at this point, no word on precisely how many people are on board. no word on injuries as well. we do know that medical personnel, fire trucks, ems, they are on the scene there in

san francisco as a holding pattern has been put in place for planes trying to fly into the international airport and planes that are leaving san francisco international airport as well. we are going to continue to follow the breaking news. we are going to take a quick break as we learn more information, we are going to pass it along to you. when you experience something great, you want to share it. with everyone. that's why more customers recommend verizon, america's largest 4g lte network. all right, folks, we are resetting here. following breaking news in san francisco. the san francisco international airport, boeing 777 crash landed

at san francisco international airport a short time ago. that plane was coming in from seoul, south korea. at this point, no word on the number of people aboard that flight. we know, again, it was coming in from seoul. according to a witness, around 11:20, around 11:20 local time, again, that would be around 2:20 eastern time, but again, this is coming from a witness around 11:20. the plane was just about to land. there was some sort of a problem with the landing gear. coming in from seoul, south korea. the plane was a boeing 777. we know that some black smoke is being seen at the airport. we also know planes flying into san francisco, planes flying into that airport are in a holding pattern. none of those planes are being allowed to land.

at this point, we are being told that obviously no planes are being allowed to take off from san francisco international airport as well. we do not have a great deal of information right now. we do have some video, some tape that just came in. you can see the black smoke that i was telling you about. you can see the black smoke there on the runway. off in a distance to the right side, off to the distance -- air traffic control is reporting that the pilot's and folks were seen leaving that plane, walking from the plane, we are told. so, again, emergency personnel on the scene. at this point, we are hearing from air traffic control that the pilots and some other folks have been seen walking off that plane. this is, again, the boeing 777.

about 2:20, we are told, apparently crashed sometime after touching down. from this image, as you can see there, it's difficult to see whether, if we can lose the banner for a second guys, when we go back, it's a little difficult to see precisely whether that black smoke is emanating from the plane in the foreground or a plane behind that plane. we know that it was coming in from seoul, south korea. aircraft -- aircraft in the area still being held in a holding pattern. if you look closely, you can see -- you can see some chutes jetting off to the side. again, if you can lose the banner, we are going to freeze the video. just heard from air traffic control. once again, there have been folks who were seen leaving the plane.

perhaps sliding down the chutes. we have frozen the image. you can see the black smoke billowing from the plane. it crash landed shortly after coming in from seoul, south korea. don't know precisely how many people are on that plane. we also don't know whether there are any injuries, the extent of injuries, we don't know that. in this piece of video, you cannot see the emergency personnel we just referenced there. again, according to air traffic control, folks have been seen leaving the boeing 777. again, this is san francisco international airport. a very busy airport. we are waiting to get more information. again, right now, we don't have a great deal of information. we just got this video in a few moments ago. you can see the smoke billowing from the plane. at this point, at least from this vantage point, we do not see -- we don't see any flames.

we wanted to freeze this image so you can take a look at the chutes coming out of those emergency exits. jay blackman is on the phone now, we are told, nbc producer, jay blackman. jay, what more can you tell us about the plane? >> caller: craig, the faa is telling us it was coming from seoul, south korea. it landed and crashed upon landing. they are probably in the process of gathering information and sending teams to san francisco. >> what can you tell us? again, i know this is your wheelhouse. what can you tell us about this type of plane, this boeing 777. >> caller: a triple 7 is one of the newer models. it's a large plane, it does long haul like this flight. you know, it's a saturday

afternoon, so, there would likely be a lot of passengers. it's unknown at the moment. >> again, this is a very large plane we are talking about here for folks watching at home. any idea, jay, precisely how many passengers it can hold? >> caller: not at this time, craig, no. >> do we know what time this all went down? >> caller: within the last half hour there were some indications of smoke from the cameras that look at the airport. again, right now the information is preliminary. the pictures look like they are part of the -- planes are built very strong these days. what we'll be hopeful for is the strong planes helped there be some survivors.

>> tom castillo joins us by phone. he covers transportation, covers airlines for nbc news. tom, you there? >> caller: i'm here, craig. here is what i can tell you. this is about all we know at the moment. this was, as you probably reported, a triple 7, coming from korea. it took off from the nearest airport outside of seoul. the capacity on a triple 7 can be as many as 450 passengers, depending on configuration. it could be in the 300s as well. depends ton layout of the plane. it's a workhorse for international flights worldwide. it first rolled off the assembly line in 1994 or so. since then, has grown in popularity. in terms of being an airplane of choice for flying

intercontinently and transatlantic and transpacific. if it was inbound from south korea, it was at the tail end of a long flight. as you probably know, would not have a lot of fuel on board, if -- if, that is a positive factor in this, we have to see. the earliest indications suggest it was some sort of emergency landing that did not end well with the plane, apparently crashing on landing. >> tom, while you were talking, we did get some information from the a.p. a federal aviation official says this plane crashed landing at san francisco airport. it was not immediately known whether there were injuries. faa spokeswoman says the boeing 777 crashed at san francisco airport while landing saturday. there's a video clip as well. we are not putting that video

clip on the air just yet. we are trying to take a look at it to see precisely what it shows. jay -- tom, rather, i don't know if you are in front of a television right now, but we are showing images of a plane on a runway right now, black smoke billowing from the plane. you can also see the chutes jetting out from the boeing 777 as well. according to air traffic control, there have been some folks, we are told the pilots were seen getting off the plane, walking off the plane. we are told a number of other folks were seen getting off the plane as well. additionally, we are told that some emergency personnel are on the tarmac. you can't really see that on this piece of video that we have. tom, i would imagine, there would be a slew of medical personnel, a slew of emergency personnel who would be on the scene, no? >> caller: absolutely right.

what you have just described, as i am driving into the nbc news washington bureau to join you in coverage so you have the advantage of having that at your fingertips. the advantage, what you just told me would hopefully be optimistic signs in that they had time to deploy the chutes. that's a good sign. if you add the captain or the pilots walking off the plane, it's another good sign. we have done many stories on nbc news about how planes today are constructed to with stand a crash and to give people those critical seconds and minutes to get out alive. you may recall, it was a 777 that crashed in toronto, canada, i believe seven or eight years ago. they landed long of the runway, at the end of the runway, they crashed. the whole plane burned, but, everybody got out alive. everybody. you may we call, there was a 777 that had a major engine

malfunction at london's heathrow airport. there's a near term history of people getting out of these plane crashes alive because they are built to hopefully give people time to get out, with stand fire and heat, to give people those precious seconds and minutes to get out alive. as they deploy the chutes, it's a good sign indeed. >> stand by as we show folks the boeing 777 that has crash landed at san francisco international airport. it sounds like we are having phone issues with tom. while we get that straightened out, i want to read a tweet. we have a tweet from a witness in the area, a witness who was -- who was at san francisco international airport. again, this video, by the way is from youtube, we are told. do we have the tweet, control

room? okay. what is the tweet? reported that the plane landed at a bad angle. flipped. flipped. then exploded. that's according to tweets from folks in the area. these are new stills that we are just getting in of this asiana airlines of this boeing that crash landed. again, if we could lose the banner, guys, you can see the chutes. you can see folks who clearly walked off that plane. we know, according to tom castillo, this type of plane can hold up to 450 passengers, roughly. we can see what appears to be at least two dozen or so getting off the plane. we do know, also, that there are

emergency personnel, obviously, that responded. you can see the smoke billowing there. this is a picture from twitter. again, this is a plane that was coming in from south korea, from seoul, south korea when it landed, when it crash landed on runway 28. sometime after touching down, we were told a few moments ago from our producer this happened. sometime, at some point within the past hour or so, according to a witness, it happened there around 11:20 local time, about 2:20 here. the plane was just about to land. according to this particular witness, there was a problem with the landing gear. aga again, we can take a look at the slides we are just getting in to msnbc. again, this picture we just got in a few moments ago, courtesy of twitter. you can see the folks there getting off that plane. we don't know, again, we should

emphasize, we do not know at this point, precisely how many people were on board, nor do we have information about injuries. these are some live picture that is we are getting in from over san francisco international airport. you can see there, ground stoppage, obviously. ground stoppage, obviously under way. no planes allowed to land in san francisco. no planes are allowed to depart. we are going to have a special report for you here in two minutes or so as we work to gather more information. again, you just saw images there of folks getting off the plane. we heard from air traffic control, we heard from atc that the pilots and a number of folks were seen getting off. you also saw the chutes jetting out from the side of the boeing 777. again, we are told from a number of witnesses that at some point,

this airplane exploded. we haven't seen those flames. we have seen smoke billowing from that boeing 777 that came in from seoul, south korea. as tom castillo mentioned, there wasn't as much fuel as a plane would have as when it was taking off. according to the faa, this asiana airlines crashed while landing at san francisco international airport. this is coming from an faa spokeswoman. it crashed while landing saturday. we just showed you video from youtube. we also, i believe, can we bring that picture back up, guys. that picture from twitter we just got in a short time ago as well? you can see in the picture, the smoke billowing from the back of the aircraft. again, we are also told, obviously, this particular airline, the airline is based in

seoul, south korea, according to the website. the boeing 777 can carry anywhere from 246 and 300 passengers. that's according to the website. to the boeing website. again, working to gather more information. we have seen images of folks walking off that plane. we are working to find out precisely, obviously, how it happened. we know it probably happened around -- we are told it happened about an hour ago, 11:20-11:30 local time. let's go to a special report. we are going to pause for a moment for a special report from my cleolleague, lester holt. >> a plane crash in san francisco at this hour. it involved an asiana 777 on the

way from seoul to san francisco. this is youtube video shot moments after the accident. the plane was apparently landing. something occurred, the pilot may have lost control, something collapsed. it ended up off the runway, turned around. the fuselage intact. fire erupted from the right side of the aircraft. one of these shots, you will see the emergency slides deployed from the forward two doors. we don't know the number of people on the plane, depending on configuration can carry 300 to 400 people. there's no word on injuries or potential casualties right now. san francisco airport is closed. the airport is part of san francisco, of downtown san francisco, near the ballpark and what's called the peninsula of san francisco. the planes land up the bay, actually going to the west,

landing on runway 28. that's when the plane crash occurred. again, the fire coming from the right side. other pictures we have seen seem to indicate severe wing damage on that side. the tail of the aircraft is also off. here's some still pictures we received a few minutes ago. passengers getting off the airplane. the fire continues to burn for some time. the good news, good to see people coming off the airplane. we want to go to tom castillo in washington. he's been in touch with the faa. tom, what are you hearing? >> caller: what we know is this was a 777. coming in from south korea. that would be from seoul at the airport there. at the end of a very long flight, lester, that would mean probably not a lot of fuel on board, which could be of assistance in an emergency like this. we don't yet know the number of people on board. as you said, it can carry, depending on the configuration, more than 400 passengers or carry in the 300s. you and i have both done reports

for nbc news about how these planes today are constructed to give people time to get out in the event of an emergency and how they have done exactly that. recall the plane crash in toronto you covered, a 777 landed long of the runway, completely burned out and everybody got off and survived. a similar story when a plane crash landed at london's heathrow airport. that was a 777. everybody also got out alive. we will watch closely and hope everybody in this case got off safely. we don't know what circumstances led to the emergency landing, a crash landing at san francisco. >> the weather appears to be good, at least in these pictures we are seeing. two runways in close proximity going off to the west at san francisco. on a day like this, they would be visual flight rule conditions meaning the pilot would see the airport from long distance and make the landing. as you can see, it is off the

runway into that grassy area between the runways. it was landing, again, on a flight from seoul. number of passengers on board, unknown. again, that last video we saw pictures, we saw people leaving the aircraft, leaving the wreckage scene and coming down the slides that deployed on at least the first two doors of the front section of the airplane. a look a moment ago from flight aware seems to indicate the airport remains closed in san francisco. we'll cover this story throughout the day and bring updates as warranted. for now, i'm lester holt. nbc news, new york. >> okay, we'll pick things up from there. again, this boeing 777, as you can see there, sitting between the runways at san francisco international airport. captain john cox joins me now via telephone, 25 year veteran of u.s. airways.

cape t captain, you there? >> caller: how are you? >> i'm good, sir. what kind of planes did you drive? >> 737s. i have flown a variety of them. >> walk us there, precisely, what could have happened here? >> caller: well, it's really early to tell. they are landing on one of the runways 28. there are two of them. it appears from the pictures it may very well have been 28 left, which would be the closest one. this would be normal arrival runway for flights from asia and this boeing 777, having come from seoul, would have been on a relatively routine flight. the things that i can tell you, looking at the pictures are that the airplane is in reasonable tact. there are large pieces.

the escape slides have operated, which says there are survivors and the airplane has sustained a lot of damage, meaning the vertical fin does not appear to be on the airplane and there's a post impact fire. it's early to tell what caused it. the good news is, there are survivors. >> we have seen, again, we have seen a number of folks who appear to have been using either the slides or folks who are walking off that plane. we just saw the pictures a few moments ago. there was also report from air traffic control that the pilots managed to get off the plane as well. this is an airline plane we are looking at right now, captain. what can you tell us about the boeing 777, this particular type of plane? >> caller: the boeing 777 has been in service since the mi

mid-'90s. it's got a good record. it's considered a leading edge in aviation. it flies countless passengers, literally thousands of miles every day. it has had a very good, safe record. the only other one that i could think of that had a problem was the british airways flight in london some years ago. otherwise, i don't remember another 777 accident and the airplane has enjoyed a very strong safety record. >> typically, how long is the flight from seoul, south korea to san francisco? >> caller: i would estimate it to be in the 14 hour or so range. that's an estimate. >> all right. again, we are told -- we are told that this crash, this crash that you are seeing, this crash the aftermath of what you are looking at on the left side of your screen, this happened

sometime around 2:00 or 2:30 eastern time, around 11:30 local time. it happened as the plane was attempting to land from seoul, south korea. we know, at this point, there are survivors. we have pictures of people getting off that plane. we don't know, at this point, though, precisely how many people were aboard that plane. we heard just a few moments ago from tom castillo and lester holt a plane like this can carry 300 to 400 people, depending on how it's con figured. captain, anytime we see images like this, especially in the new york area, we think of captain sully sullenberger. a pilot that has to crash land a plane like this, how do you do it? >> caller: well, i doubt seriously if the crew had much warning this was going to happen. the issues that they are facing,

i think probably came up unexpectedly. the airplane has sustained a pretty fair amount of lateral load because the landing gear, the mainlanding gear appears to be out from under the airplane. that tells me, at one point they did not have control of the airplane. i don't think this is comparable to captain sullenberger's landing in the hudson where they had time to prepare for it. i have known him a long time. i think this is a dramatically different type of accident. >> the fuselage appears to be intact. the plane, from this vantage point does not appear to have a tail. what does that tell you? . >> caller: it tells me there's a force that took that off. that could very well have been during the post accident or post

impact slide as the airplane slid off the runway. it's a little unusual and that will be one of the things that the investigators from the national transportation safety board will be looking for. >> for our viewers at home, we should note the picture on the right side of your screen is a picture we have from twitter. the left side is a live look at san francisco international airport. that airport is closed. no planes are being allowed to land. no planes are being allowed to take off. you can see the emergency personnel on the tarmac, on the runway there. faa official says asiana airlines flight crashed landing at san francisco airport. at this point, we do not know whether there are any injuries. we have seen a number of folks off that plane. air traffic control tells us the pilots were able to get off the plane as well. that is a boeing 777. it is a massive plane. according to the website, it can

seat anywhere between 300 and 400 people depending on how the plane itself, how the plane itself is con figured. captain, i don't know if you are in front of a television right now, but it appears as if we have firefighters, fire personnel dousing flames on that plane. are you looking at images right now, captain? >> caller: no, i'm in the middle east. i have a computer in front of me, but nothing live. >> captain, i'm going to get you to stand by for me. lester holt is back with us. lester, you are looking at presumably the same picture i'm looking at. the fuselage, while intact looks to be in awful shape. >> well, i think what you are seei seeing, i don't see the exact picture you have. the fire looks like it continued

to burn even after the evacuation of the planes. the latest pictures show a total loss. the fuselage of the airplane consumed by fire. the critical thing to look at are the wings, if not separated, they have been twisted away. the engines have detached as well as the tail section. that leads open a huge range of possibilities. the airplane at a high range. made a tail strike. very unclear. this is incredible popular safe plane. the boeing 777 made in the mid-1990s. they have sold a ton of them. to my knowledge, there's never been a fatal crash involving a 777. the weather picture appears to be clear. this would have been a visual landing, meaning the pilot was not dealing with clouds, smoke or haze. simply seeing the runway and landing. very unclear what could have gone wrong. the pilots are generally the

most experienced of the airlines. it's a seniority based system that allows them to fly the larger planes. the plane depending on whether it's a two or three class configuration can carry 300 to 400 people. we did see pictures tweeted out of people coming off the aircraft, coming down the slides. if you look at the video and pictures, the slides, at least on the forward two doors on the lefthand side were deployed meaning people got down on that side. typically, they don't deploy them, depending on what's going on around them. they are trying to assess what they see. if there's flames on a side or at some point down the fuselage, they won't open it. it's a twin aisle aircraft meaning there's exits on both sides, two sets of aisles for people to get down. a rare kind of accident. it continued to burn for some

time after the impact. we are all hoping everyone made it off before the flames consumed it. i covered another crash not unlike this in toronto several years ago, maybe 2004, 2005 where it was an air france airbus. similar thing, ran off the runway, broke up, everybody got off before the plane was consumed by fire. we are certainly hoping and praying. you look at the video, the tail section is gone. there should be one engine on each of the wings. you don't see them, at least not where they are supposed to be. the fire worked to the top of the aircraft. early pictures i saw showed the fire on the right side of the aircraft. we can see the exits now. you can see the exits on all the left side of the aircraft were open. hopefully people were able to get out. if a plane has to crash, probably the best time, after a long flight like that because it

would have minimal amount of fuel on board. obviously the biggest worry of fire is the amount of fuel. at this point, it would have the recommended amount of reserves in case of weather. generally, a minimal amount of fuel on the airplane at this point. >> lester, i know you are familiar with planes in general. you are familiar with this area as well, the san francisco area. what can you tell the viewers about the area we are looking at? >> i'm from the bay area. san francisco airport is unique. the runway the plane was coming in on was either 28 left or right. basically parallel runways, it's not unusual. these are so close together during times of bad weather, low visibility, they can't do simultaneous instrument landings, meaning two planes can't come in at the same time solely on instruments.

in summertime when you get the fog they have to slow things down. only one plane at a time can land. a day like this, this was the weather at the time of the accident. they would have simultaneous visual arrivals, meaning planes can land side by side. the pilot announces hey, if you look over on the left, you will see an american 757. don't be alarmed. he sees us, we see him. the runways are close together. there's no indication this is a result involving other aircraft or air traffic control anomaly. this appears to be a hard landing. that can mean anything from coming in too fast. the thing is on the modern airliners and yes, i'm a bit of an airplane geek and co-incidentally enough, i was, this morning at home on my computer making approaches on a 777 at san francisco airport. i know it's unbelievable and i

just admitted to the world i'm a geek. this is very rare. the instruments in these airplanes give them all kind of cues and guidance, the optimal speed to land, the point of touchdown. information on when to flair the airplane back to make the landing. to see a hard landing like this is rare. there was a 777 british airways one at heathrow that made a crash landing at heathrow. that was a loss of power. i can't, at the top of my mind remember the cause. the plane lost power and fell from the air at a low altitude. everybody made it out alive. the plane appeared to be a total loss. this is a head scratcher. we are hoping and praying everyone made it off the airplane before it was consumed by fire. >> a number of folks made it off the airplane. we have seen the pictures of folks getting off via the

chutes. tom castillo, the man that covers transportation joins me live via telephone. you have spoke to someone at the faa. what did you hear? >> caller: can you come to me for a minute? we have a blow up of this airport. this is san francisco airport. we believe he was coming down the runway, 28 left. he was coming in on this runway here, as close as you can get to the terminal, the terminal here. as he landed, at some point, lost control of the aircraft or in some way this ended in a sort of firy crash. he is relatively close to the emergency infrastructure there at the airport. we can go back to the video and you can see they were there. it would appear rather quickly, fire apparatus there. yes, you can see there is flame and fire damage but not completely. the entire thing isn't engolfed. >> yeah. >> we might hope that is because

the fire department was there quickly or there wasn't a lot of fuel on board. >> tom, you know, again, you have covered transportation for a long time. you have been on a lot of planes, done stories about a lot of planes. when you look at the image to the left and you see the fuselage, while obviously, it was engolfed at some point and they are dousing it with whatever they use to put the flames out, the tail is off. it looks like there's been substantial damage. what does that tell you? the fact that the tail is off the boeing 777, what does that tell you? >> you know, it looks as if -- it looks as if it's possible the tail hit the runway first, almost as if we had some sort of tail dragging, the nose was high and the tail dragged like they had a sudden loss of altitude, power or control that caused the plane to come tail down first and the rest of the body slammed

down. it is conjecture at this nothing more than that. the nose is in good shape. the tail may have come down firt point, you had a fire. probably originating in those engines. the fire is limited to the middle of the fuselage. it didn't get into the cockpit and it didn't spread all the way back to the tail section or the rear of the plane. you got to wonder if this wasn't a situation where for whatever reason, they were coming in nose pitch high, tail hit the ground first and then the rest of the plane slammed down. >> we're watching now this fire truck spraying that white fire retardant on the wreckage there. as you pointed out, it seemed as if emergency personnel was either standing by, prepared for this or their response was

pretty dog gone quick. the weather in san francisco right now, tom, it is not raining. it doesn't appear to be terribly cloudy. do we know any more about the conditions there? >> i don't know that immediately off the top of my head. we're trying to ascertain that as well. i would point out that this airport is notorious for having fog at any time of the day but it looks like a fairly clear day. at least at that very moment. if that video is minutes after the impact, it appeared to be relatively clear at the time of the crash. let me point out what you're not seeing. those images, i would at least glance find encouraging. you're not seeing tremendous frenetic activity. people running about. you are not seeing at least in the images we have seen, any sort of a makeshift triage area or shelter area.

you're looking at the debris. as it came in, it appears right at the very beginning. maybe that's where the tail slammed down and then the plane went down runway 28 left. >> you saw the skid marks as well. we should let our viewers know, we are not controlling this camera. you just saw the skid marks. a lot of debris. the fact that we are not seeing more of a mass casualty type of activity on the runway, let's hope is encouraging. we do have preliminary reports of people getting off the plane. the chutes coming out. as you and i discussed earlier, these planes today, made by both boeing and air bus, they are designed to give people those extra few seconds and minutes to get out as quickly as they can. and the materials are designed, not to burn as quickly as they

would have 20, 25, 30 years ago. you know, what comes to my mind, of course, is that air canada flight that caught fire. i'm dating myself now. this is a good 25, 30 years ago. and literally, the plane was gutted and very, very quickly, burned to just nothing. today, we are seeing planes are do seem to give people those extra few minutes necessary. not only that, the seats themselves are constructed in such a way to allow a little more give so that you're not immediately breaking hips and backs and legs on impact. all of this is very much an ongoing scientific, you know, effort. one other note there. it looks to me like, you know, you hate to engage in conjecture here, craig, it looks to me like he hit that runway very early on and then very quickly came off the runway. there into the center median area. >> tom, stand by for me if you

can. tom costello in our d.c. bureau following all of this. we were talking a few moments ago about weather conditions there in san francisco. alex wilson with the weather channel is standing by for us. alex, what can you tell us about wind in the area? what can you tell us about fog, perhaps? what can you tell us about cloudiness in san francisco international airport? >> no fog showing up on the observation. the latest observation out of san francisco, obviously, the pictures that we've seen show clear skies across the san francisco area winds were light. winds not an issue. and fog, not something that came into play. so from the weather end of things, it doesn't look like weather would have played a factor in this. >> all right. again, this is the weather channel here talking about the conditions in the area. and it sounds like for all practical intents and purposes, the weather in the area at the time of this crash was just

fine. is that what you're saying? >> yeah. just fine. as far as what we're seeing in the pictures coming in, clear skies. there was not any fog at san francisco international airport. and looking at those latest observations that are measured during the periods of time throughout the day, showing things pretty quiet as far as winds go. we were not seeing any strong wind gusts across the area. about five to ten miles an hour, fairly light when you're talking about wind speeds. no fog or reduced visibility showing up either. >> alex wilson with the weather channel. folks again, you are looking at, this is a live picture of runway 28 at san francisco international airport, sfo. you are looking at debris strewn about the runway there. that boeing 777. again, off to the left of that runway. captain cox, 25-year veteran of u.s. airways. i understand you're still on the

phone with me. i understand that you have handed at this airport. >> many times, craig. interestingly, looking at this debris field, this airplane is on the runway long before it should have been. and it is shedding debris which means it is probably hit something. the tail that you see that is missing is actually back in the early parts of the runway. and you can see skid marks as the airplane exits on the left-hand side. several points to note, all of the exits appear to have been opened on both sides of the airplane based on these pictures. also, there is an engine located right by the right wing which tells me that the airplane was actually going quite slowly when that engine left. so that it had dissipated almost all the energy by the time it arrived there. those will help the survival

sides. the debris field being so early on the runway, potentially even before the runway. that will be a key question that the investigators are going to ask. why was the airplane on the ground so early? that's much earlier than it should have been. >> we should note also, this plane we're told, asiana airlines flight 214. it left seoul yesterday about 4:35 in the afternoon. it was scheduled to arrive. scheduled to arrive in san francisco at 11:15 local time. so that would be about 2:15 eastern time. we're told that it crash landed shortly before that scheduled landing. captain cox, when you've landed at san francisco in the past, how does landing at this particular airport compared to landing at other airports? is it more or less difficult? is it about the same?

any nuance to landing here? >> the biggest thing with san francisco is the close proximity of the two runways, that parallels runway 28. they're only 750 feet apart. consequently, you have traffic oftentimes, it is pretty close to the airplane. as lester mentioned, it is very common for us to make an announcement to the passengers. there will be another airplane just off to our left. we know it is there. they know we're here. this is normal for san francisco. but that is probably the most unique thing about san francisco. one other thing that is important to point out. the triage that the san francisco first responders have set up. this is just classic. they have a lot of equipment

near the airplane to equip the survivors to get the fire out. it looks like it will go down as a very, very well orchestrated response on the part of the san francisco airport fire rescue people. >> and folks at home watching, obviously, the pictures that we are seeing are amazing. you can see the broken parts of the plane strewn about runway 28. you can see the debris there. if we can control them, i would like to show this picture that we showed earlier of survivors getting off that plane as well. we saw the chutes. to the right of the screen there. you can see there folks who managed to get off that plane were still working to find out precisely how many folks are on board the plane. and how many folks are injured if there are any injuries. who is to say there are injuries? we can see at one point, according to eyewitnesses, passengers jumping down those inflatable emergency slides.

i understand that maeve reston with the "l.a. times" is there. are you there? do we have her? okay. we have greg on the phone. the ntsb has deployed a team rather to san francisco, obviously, considering the circumstances. that's protocol. greg, first of all, what if anything are you hearing about this particular crash? greg okay. we don't have greg fife there. why don't we reset here for just a few moments. there's an asiana airlines plane that you're looking at to the right of the screen that